The Bits Christmas Leaves Behind

I’m not saying you shouldn’t do this – because it’s tradition now and you can’t stop me – but the psychology behind it would be fascinating. Why, when usually one casserole dish does our family of seven, do I suddenly have the need to use all the casserole dishes in my pantry? And platters? And salad bowls?

Why do we all forget the physical limitations of what can fit in the very same fridge we’ve been eating out of all year?

And why, why, why do we think we need every farm animal to be represented at the table, even that rarest of white meats, the turkey?

I mean, we’re so stupid about it we have the kids leave out a glass of milk and biscuits for Santa. Like someone thought, ‘Hey, have you noticed the lack of chewing and belly filling going on between dinner on Christmas Eve and when the kids wake us up a couple of hours before breakfast? We’ve got to do something about that.”

The worst thing is you can’t just throw all the extra food you have out. It’s not the waste of money: it’s that the wheelie bin is chockers to overflowing with the wrappings all the presents came in.

You’ve no choice. You have to get rid of this stuff the old fashioned way – flushing.

My Christmas gift to everyone who supports and follows our family’s exploits is this video showcasing some ways to rid yourselves of the food leftover. I could have gone with pasta bake, but I haven’t. Everyone who’s anyone does a pasta bake. What I’ve done is to try come up with a couple of ideas which might surprise you. These aren’t recipes I’ve ripped off the web. These are things we make every other month, so I know they work and, if you know me at all, you know they’re easy.

Because that’s what you want on Boxing Day or the 27th or whatever the day after your family Christmas get-together is. Easy. A no-brainer. You can serve up the same dishes as you did at the lunch or dinner, but the fact is that glazed ham or roast does get a little tired by the third sitting in a row.

Well, maybe not the ham.

I’ve also tried to do more than just work on the meats or suggest toasted sandwiches. You have lollies and chocolate and the remains of the cheese platter all taking up much needed space in the fridge.

The main purpose of this video isn’t even to tell you how to do it. It’s more to show you how to approach it.

Except for the last couple of ideas. I don’t think I could talk you out of trying those if I tried.